Blind: Guess who?

Sara Ali Khan hasn't been on screen yet, but she's made some fans already. Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh's daughter, who reportedly ditched a seat at Columbia University to pursue a childhood fascination with acting, made quite the impression on guests (mostly film industry folk) at a wedding reception hosted by Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla last weekend. The designer duo extended invitations for their niece's big night to all their friends, and the evening turned out to be one of song, dance and some surprising performances.

Karan Johar, who clearly knows the steps to many a Bollywood dance number, sportingly broke into Radha on the Dance Floor from his own film, and Shweta Bachchan did a slinky version of Pallu Latke, with mother Jaya Bachchan joining her for a few moments. Sonam Kapoor feigned shyness even as she was coaxed to recreate the Prem Ratan Dhan Payo song, but it was Sara who turned out to be the traffic stopper of the night, with her perfectly rehearsed and confident performance to the hit 90s track Saat Samundarand this, in a heavy sari, no less.

I ran into Varun Dhawan's mother the morning after the party and she couldn't stop gushing about Sara's unmistakable star quality. Laali Dhawan said she'd spent some time with Sara a few months ago while travelling in a group to attend a party hosted by Hyderabad socialite Pinky Reddy.

Sara will debut opposite Sushant Singh Rajput in Fitoor director Abhishek Kapoor's Kedarnath, which is back on track after Ronnie Screwvala recently stepped in as a co- producer after a falling out between Abhishek and his co-producer Prernaa Arora led to the film being temporary stalled. She's also been signed to be the leading lady in Rohit Shetty's Simbaa, an action-comedy starring Ranveer Singh.

The young girl's father Saif had revealed that years ago, when he was performing in a musical stage show, he'd noticed his then six or seven-year- old daughter watching and imitating Aishwarya Rai's dance steps from behind the curtain. That's when he says he'd realised there was a likelihood she was going to follow in her parents' footsteps.

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/cinema/there-s-something-about-sara